Canada's Drag Race Season 6, Episode 9
"Pop Queens of the North"
Showrunner: Trevor Boris
Director: Shelagh O'Brien
Host: Brooke Lynn Hytes
Cast: Eboni La'Belle, PM, Sami Landri, Van Goth
Do I feel bad that this is close to a week overdue? Absolutely. Is there anything you, the reader, can do to help ensure that timely recaps like these aren't delayed? Subscribe to Pop Heist, and help us bring on more staff members! I'm losing my mind over here — but I still have to close out this spectacular season. So, as I've done with previous Drag Race seasons, I'm going to look at the season on the whole and pass one final, HIT or MISS judgment.
The Queens
This cast was killer, period. From the very first elimination, I was broken up about saying goodbye to these girls. I think about the insanity we missed from Paolo Perfeccion, quite possibly the most enigmatic and confounding queen in the cast — and that's saying something.
But still, every queen left a mark on my memory. Starr Doll's hilarious circular Untucked meltdown, where she went from needing therapy to being the therapist in a matter of seconds.
Hazel's unexpected rivalry with her bestie PM, including that all-timer of a lip sync showdown. Dulce, the quiet queen who, by Episode 5, had had it, officially, with everyone. The way Mya Foxx defied all my expectations and excelled at nearly everything. The naked earnestness and raw excellence of Velma Jones. Saltina Shaker's inspirational speeches to ... herself. The way Karamilk knew exactly how to poke holes in Van Goth's ego right at the end.
And I haven't even mentioned the final four: two absolute weirdos (PM and Sami Landri) and two consummate divas (Eboni La'Belle and Van Goth). They're a bizarre, hella talented, unpredictable, shit-stirring, emotional, hilarious, badass quartet, and they're emblematic of just how killer this season was.
The Challenges
Canada's Drag Race is the most fearless series in the queendom, a fact they reiterate every single season. They're not satisfied to rest on their lovely lady laurels up north. No, they have to shake things up — and this season was the most shooken of all. Of the nine episodes, only two were by-the-book: 6x02 and 6x05, the commercial and morning show challenges. Those were also the two weakest episodes of the season, proving that there's no real reason to stick to this rigid as hell formula.
The season really soared when they added some spice to the formula. The best examples of that being 6x03, where the queens got to choose their Maxi Challenge, and 6x08, the quadruple challenge obstacle course to get to the finale. Both of these episodes demonstrated how malleable Drag Race is, and how Drag Race somehow feels even more Drag Race when it's fucking with Drag Race's own innate Drag Race-ness. But that's what drag is. It's subversion. And Drag Race has become such an institution that the only way for Drag Race to really feel like Drag Race is to break all the rules.
But now that Canada's Drag Race is approaching Season 7, this show has a few institutions of its own that it could start dismantling. We've now had two seasons of the girl group mega mix with the full cast in Episode 1, as well as the Slayoffs and the design for Brooke Lynn challenge. This season brought back the reading battles challenge from Canada vs. the World Season 2. None of these Canadian-grown challenges feel stale yet, so I'm not itching for a remix just yet. But the thing that's great about Canada's Drag Race is ... I have no idea what they're going to do next.
The Judging
Wow, imagine: a Drag Race series where the judging is either incredibly fair, or the editing is so razor sharp that I can't clock the producers' puppet strings. Either way, I don't think you can find instances of me truly melting down over bonkers placements in these recaps. The only tweak I would make would possibly be Eboni's win in the reading battles, as I thought Sami and Velma were a little better. But, I can't come for the judges' call, because I get it.
And with honest judging comes a lot of upsets — particularly regarding Hazel's early out and Saltina not making it to the finale. But, looking at the finale we got, I wouldn't change a thing. As sickening as both of those queens were, especially on the runway, their exits made sense.
The Twists
Canada's made this a little tougher to grade because the twists are now foundational to the show. The twists are, like, every challenge. The biggest twists of the season, though, were the announced double elimination for the Slayoffs and the C.U.N.T.-est. Drag Race does double eliminations often, but they're rarely — maybe never — announced ahead of time. Oddly, this is the kind of gag done on The Great British Bake-Off, a competition show that is so aggressively gentle. They'll often announce that two bakers are going home the following week, usually following a no-elimination episode, thus hanging a sense of dread over the next week. I liked going into a high-stakes challenge like the Slayoffs knowing it was heading towards a high-stakes finale.
The Lip Syncs
Bitch. Not since All Stars 2, or US Season 9, has one season of Drag Race yielded this many instantly iconic, break-the-internet level lip syncs. Starting with Van Goth throwing down against Brooke Lynn Hytes — the host — to "Cold Hearted," in front of Paula Abdul, Season 6 kept the hits coming. The highlights for me? Hazel vs. PM to "Dumb Blonde," and PM hitting a franchise-reset with "Sweet Surrender."
And the season started strong and ended strong with Van Goth and Eboni La'Belle truly wrecking shop to Chappell Roan's "Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl." This season gave us nonstop stunts, and more lip syncs that I will absolutely force people to watch at my parties.
Untucked
The girls also loved to fight this year. Granted, I don't think we got anything on the level of Melinda Verga or Makayla Couture's epic blowups, but every episode delivered plenty of shade. A lot came from Van Goth, who had opinions about everything and let everyone know every time. My personal faves included her — the winner — berating Eboni — in the bottom — for having a bad attitude during a sewing challenge; and then Van losing her shit at Saltina over who she would save from the bottom ... when Saltina did not have the power to save anyone from the bottom.
The undisputed queen of Untucked, though, was Dulce.
It's the quiet girls you gotta look out for apparently. But I guess Dulce is so reserved because she's listening, and she will not let anyone get anything by her. Dulce did not let these girls even whisper her name without giving a, "What was that?" This carried through to the finale, when Hazel and Dulce went at it. To be fair, Hazel did use her mirror message to take a swing at Dulce. The best part: Hazel winning Miss Congeniality immediately after.
The Finale
If Season 6 stumbled anywhere, it was here at the finale. It wasn't a bad finale. I love the tradition of having the current crowned queen come back for Canada's version of a TicTac lunch. I love letting the queens orchestrate their own numbers, not just writing a verse to a RuPaul song. I love bringing back the entire cast for a runway and mini reunion. I think the season lost a little steam not because of the show itself, and not because of the queens, but just because ... shit, it's hard to run a marathon.
All four of the numbers felt rushed, likely because they were. Now, there is a bad habit amongst Drag Race queens of trying to cram too many words into every single verse. Would love to see that stop. On top of that, the mixes for all four singles could have been tighter; it felt like the vocals were too loud. And while the numbers all had sickening moments, you know they all could've used another day or two in rehearsal.
Before I forget: Rufus Wainwright being the vocal coach/producer and final judge, completely unexpected. Absolute madness. The vibes clashed ferociously, but that's what I live for. I am here for Canada's Drag Race acknowledging queer culture outside of the very now, very club, very Gen Z aesthetic.
Still, the episode ended with another all-timer of a lip sync. And while I personally think Eboni ate that lip sync up, that doesn't change the fact that Van Goth is an equally athletic and puss performer who can hold her own against Brooke Lynn Hytes. And having secured the most wins of any queen in any Canadian season, it felt like a given that she'd win. And what a winner! The "villain" of the season hasn't won once in Canada's Drag Race, and I think you'd have to go back 10 years to US Season 7 (Violet Chachki) to find a winner that was as much of a shit-stirrer (although I do think Season 11's Yvie Oddly falls into this category a tad, but her underdog edit overshadowed her instigator edit).
And with that, another stellar season of Canada's Drag Race comes to a close. It is such a shame that the show's schedule kinda buries it at the very end of the year, airing through three major holidays, robbing it of the kind of attention and placement on year-end best-of lists that it deserves. But hey, no matter when it airs, I'm going to be tuning in every single week. Now, let the villain's reign begin, baby.
The Score
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